


Wake up, Probie

by secret170193



Category: NCIS
Genre: Can be McNozzo if you ship it, Gen, Hypothermia, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Regret, prank gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27423499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secret170193/pseuds/secret170193
Summary: Written in 2011, probably full of plot holes but transferred from ff.net anyway.Tony takes one of his pranks too far, can McGee survive the night?
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo & Timothy McGee
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a long hard day at NCIS and 'Team Gibbs' was exhausted. They had finished the case hours ago but with so much paper work they had all been stuck at their computers typing till gone 9pm. Finally Gibbs told them to hand in their reports and call it a night. Ziva was gone before Tony and McGee could even look up. Gibbs shrugged.

"McGee, lock up autopsy would you? Ducky forgot."

Tim nodded, almost dropping the bundle of keys Gibbs had chucked at him from across the room before leaving. Tony leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk.

"Hey, while you're down there McGeek, put the superglue back for me."

McGee picked up the small tube, cursing himself for having fallen for that again. He glared at Tony but decided at least if he put it back himself he could hide it and maybe then he wouldn't get glued to his desk stationary. He had to take the stairs down, Gibbs always made sure the lifts weren't on when he left in case someone broke in during the night.

As soon as McGee was out of sight Tony leapt out of his seat and snuck after him. It had been at least a week of nothing but name calling and a few glue covered pencils and he felt it was time for a proper prank. Otherwise people would start thinking he'd gone soft on Probie.

Tim walked into the bright autopsy room and set the keys down on the table by the door and quickly busied himself with a few drawers over the other side of the room trying to find the best, most boring looking place, to hide the tube of superglue. The more boring looking the better, DiNozzo would never find it then. He shivered slightly, just realising how cold it was down here. He could see his breath. But then it had to be cold, very cold, or the bodies wouldn't stay 'fresh'.

Tony pushed the door open an inch and peered in. His initial plan was to jump out at McGee in the room of the dead and scare the socks off of him but out of the corner of his eye he spotted the keys, just within arms reach. A sinister smirk planted itself on his face as he leaned forwards and silently pulled the keys back through the door, shutting it behind him.

Tim spun round when he head a quiet click. Superglue forgotten he rushed over to the door and shook at the handle. It was locked, just like he feared. He looked through the square window at the top of the door to see Tony grinning, spinning the keys round his finger.

"Tony! This is not funny, let me out of here now!"Tony didn't stop grinning and waved through the glass at the bright red angry looking McGee.

"Calm down, McGrouchy. Ring me later when you've cooled down and I'll let you out. Or you could look for Ducky's spare key."

With that DiNozzo spun round on one foot and jogged back up the stairs, ignoring the pounding on the door behind him.

McGee quickly gave up. No one man, however strong, could knock down NCIS doors. He leaned against the wall panting and frowning. Tony could be such an ass sometimes. No, scratch that, he was an ass all the time. Tim shivered again and reached instinctively to pull his jacket tighter when he realised that his jacket was still upstairs hanging over the back of his chair. Well he hadn't exactly expected to get shut down here. Maybe he should just call Tony and beg him to let him out of this body freezer. Not that he was scared of the corpses that inhabited this room, he dealt with them on a weekly, if not daily, basis. But that didn't stop the thought of it being unnerving. McGee waited ten more minutes before his pride caved in and he reached for his phone. Not there, must be in the other pocket. Nope, not there either. Tim was starting to panic when it dawned on him that he didn't have his phone on him and he wasn't getting out of here till Tony got a call. Taking a few deep breaths he calmed himself down and went back to the drawers to look for Ducky's spare key.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Tony sat in his car, driving home, waiting for that oh so satisfying call of McGeek begging him to come back and let him out. Though knowing Tim he'd most likely found the spare key and let himself out by now. He'd probably give Tony the silent treatment for most of tomorrow, but then that would just give more opportunity for pranks and names to coax him into talking which was always fun. Ziva wouldn't approve much but maybe he could convince her to join in, her quick wit (even with slow vocabulary) was always entertaining. Tony smiled and concentrated on the road. McGee would forgive him eventually, he always did.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

A while later McGee looked up at the clock hanging high up on the wall. It was 11:30pm. He'd been stuck in here for over an hour and a half. He'd managed to figure out that there was no spare key, Ducky must have taken it with him, and no phones either. Now he sat against the wall at the far side of the room, away from the bodies and the now very messed up drawers. He only hoped Tony would realised that he hadn't gotten a call and would come let him out, though it was starting to look less and less likely.

12:15am, time was going really slowly. McGee wrapped his arms round himself and brought his knees up to his chin to try and keep himself warm. He caught himself almost falling asleep a few times but shook himself awake each time. Suddenly it felt a little less cold. His eyes drooped sleepily. Something in the back of his head said that since nobody had turned the heat up he shouldn't be feeling less cold. It also said that he shouldn't fall asleep. Tim heeded his mind for a while, trying his best to think of anything but sleep. This was very hard, none of the team had had much sleep in the past few days. He knew the best way to fend off the cold would be to sit close to someone and share body heat. But since the only other 'people' in the room were all dead, chances of them sharing any body heat were very unlikely.

2:00am. McGee's head lolled to one side slightly. He could still see his breath, little clouds of thick mist in front of his face. They were smaller than before but he didn't take time to notice this. The thoughts going through his head seemed jumbled. Something about learning first aid, or needing it… he couldn't remember. His knees had slipped down from being tucked under his chin and he didn't seem to have the strength to put them back, so they stayed with his legs sprawled across the icy cold floor. His arms hung by his sides, unable to stay wrapped round him any longer. More thoughts fluttered through his mind. Something about Tony. And a slap to the back of the head. Again he couldn't seem to figure out if Tony needed a slap or if he was remembering being slapped by Tony. Either way it didn't seem important. He felt so sleepy, so tired. His hazy mind couldn't recall why he shouldn't be sleeping right now. He began to close his eyes slowly and consciousness drifted from him. His eyes didn't even get the chance to close completely but lay half open staring at nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

6:00am, Tony sat bolt upright in bed. He'd set his alarm for the first time in… probably ever. He shocked himself with his sudden wake but shook it off and got up. He'd only set his alarm because he hadn't put his report on Gibb's desk last night and only remembered when he got home. Normally that would earn a slap on the head but the great DiNozzo figured that since Gibbs had said 'On my desk by tomorrow morning' then as long as he got to work before Gibbs (and everyone else since Gibbs was always first to arrive) then it would still count. He dressed quickly and drove to the NCIS building.

Tony entered the bullpen after dropping off the report and sat down in his chair for a light snooze before the rest of the team got there. On impulse he opened his phone to call McGee to see if he was still mad at him. He put the phone up to his ear and a confused expression crossed his face. That was weird, he could swear he could hear… He looked over at McGeek's desk and his stomach dropped. A little light was flashing next to the keyboard. Tony jumped up and ran over to the desk where he picked up McGee's phone. If he didn't have his phone on him then… Tony headed for the stairs at a power walk, speed dialling Ducky as he took the stairs two at a time.

"Anthony? It's a little early for you to be up isn't it?"

Tony would have smiled if the situation were different, the team knew him so well.

"Ducky! Thank goodness you're up. Hey did you leave the spare key downstairs last night?"

"Why, no. I have it here with me."

Tony's heart pounded in his chest.

"How cold does autopsy get?"

There was a brief silence before Ducky's voice came back.

"Most likely between -5 and -10 degrees Celsius. Why?"

Tony grimaced, taking the steps three or four at a time now.

"Hypothetically speaking, what if someone was in there overnight."

Again a slight pause as Ducky thought.

"Well that depends what you mean by over night. How many hours?"

"Say… eight?"

No pause this time.

"They'd probably be dead."

Tony's face paled and he was glad Ducky couldn't see him over the phone.

"Ducky, call an ambulance, send it to NCIS."

He could barely hear Ducky's reply.

"Anthony? What's happened?"

He hung up and stuffed his phone in his pocket as he reached the door of Autopsy. He turned the key in the lock and threw the door open. Wheezing slightly he ran into the room and looked round frantically. There, at the back of the room was McGee, slumped against the wall. Tony rushed forwards and fell to his knees next to him. He looked a ghostly pale and his lips were tinged blue. His eyes were half open, glazed over. Tony almost went into a panic, almost. He knew panicking wouldn't help. He reached up and snatched one of the small clean metal trays off the autopsy table and held it under Probie's nose and mouth. His hand somehow managed to stay still while the rest of him shook like a leaf. There! He could just barely see it but there was a hint of condensation on the metal. McGee was breathing, but barely.

He placed a hand carefully on McGeek's face and faltered when he felt how deathly cold he was. He'd felt dead bodies warmer than this! Tony ripped his jacket from his shoulders and threw it over his subordinate. He took one of McGee's hands and began rubbing it vigorously between his own in hopes of warming it up. He swapped hands briefly before lightly slapping the sides of Tim's face.

"Come on, Probie. Snap out of it."

Deeply worried that the ambulance would not get here in time, Tony cautiously wrapped his arm round McGee's limp body and hugged him close to try and transfer body heat, rubbing his hand in circles on Tim's back. The fact that he couldn't even hear his breathing scared Tony.

"Don't give up. You wake up and you can slap me on the head any time you want."

Tony jumped when he heard a heavy rattling breath in his ear. He propped McGee back against the wall so he could keep a proper eye on his condition, and so he wouldn't accidentally suffocate the poor man. He was less pale, but still had no pink tinge to his cheeks and his lips were still a little blue, but he was breathing deeper now. Tony tapped gently around McGee's eyes and gave a weak smile when he reacted and blinked. It was an involuntary reaction, but at least it happened. Tony continued to rub small circles into Tim's hands and face, gradually getting him to warm up. His brief smile from before was completely gone from his face now. However much he tried to convince himself otherwise, he'd seen situations like this before. Where, dispite recovering on the scene, the victims had later died. He couldn't keep that thought from his head as he looked down at McGee. The McGee that lived at his desk, that wasn't cut out for field work.

Stronger men had died.


	3. Chapter 3

McGee saw black for a very long time, but suddenly shapes and colours began to appear in his vision. The edges of his sight were still black and blurry but it was slowly coming into focus. He recognised Tony after a fair few minutes but couldn't muster up the strength to speak.

Tony reached up and tapped the sides of McGee's eyes again, this time getting more than just the blink reaction. The eyes followed him, or at least they followed his hand. It was pitifully slow movement but it meant that he was regaining consciousness. Tony leaned closer to McGee.

"McGee? Probie?… Tim? Come on Buddy I know you can hear me!"

McGee heard him, the words registering a lot later than they should have. He began to open his mouth to try and talk back when it suddenly hit him. His entire body was in agonising pain. Especially his hands and face. The restored blood circulation was obviously a good thing but it was very painful after being cold so long. No words came out but his eyes screwed shut as his face contorted in pain and he in took breath between his teeth in a quiet hissing noise. Relief spread across Tony's face. He might be in terrible pain but at least McGeek was awake.

"I know, it hurts. Can you move at all?"

It was at least a good thirty seconds before Tony spotted Tim's hand move slightly on the ground. He pushed his own hand towards it where McGee's hand squeezed weakly on the back of his hand. It was shocking how much effort seemed to be behind such a feeble movement. There was a loud dinging noise and the lift at the side of the room whooshed open. Gibbs stepped out and stared over at Tony crouching next to a pale limp body. He strode over.

"DiNozzo! What happened? I got a call from Ducky…"

Tony glanced up at Gibbs trying to hide the terrified, worried look in his eyes.

"Boss! Probie needs to get to hospital, fast!"

Gibbs noted the use of the affectionate nickname in such a serious situation and guessed that Tony was incredibly scared and worried right now. McGee opened his eyes in a squint and slowly managed to direct them towards Tony and blur-in-the-background, who's voice he recognised as Gibbs. He parted his lips just long enough to let out a faint groan. Both Tony and Gibbs snapped their heads round to look at McGee. Tony pushed closer to Tim and snaked his arm under McGee's arm and round his back.

"We've got to get you upstairs. Think you can stand Probie?"

McGee tried to shake his head but didn't even get as far as that, his head lolling gently to one side. Tony guessed this might mean no."Well you'll have to try anyway."

He very slowly began to lift McGee, using the wall to balance them both. He gradually brought Tim's arm over his own shoulders and they both leaned against the wall as Tony caught his breath.

"Right, now try and take a step."

He waited for the message to register. McGee wasn't sure if he could, since right now he wasn't even being held up by his own legs at all, it was all DiNozzo and the wall. Still he tried. He managed to shift his right leg forwards a few inches. Now for the other leg. He took the weight off his left leg and crumpled towards the ground. Tony's heart skipped a beat, he couldn't hold up Tim away from the wall.

"Boss!"

But Gibbs was already lunging forwards and caught McGee's left arm, hoisting it over his own shoulder. Tony sighed in relief and the two men moved step by step to the lift. They set McGee gently propped up against the wall of the lift. Gibbs pressed the button and waited for the door to close. Tony knelt next to McGee and tapped the side of his face gently.

"Don't fall asleep on me now McGee. We're so close."

McGee opened his eyes a mere fraction, just barely managing to find Tony's eyes. His mouth opened weakly and his voice slipped out, a hushed hoarse voice he could barely recognise as his own.

"…sorry….Tony…."

His eyes slid shut and his head fell lightly onto his shoulder. Tony was panicking intensely inside. McGee's breathing was suddenly very shallow again. Gibbs stayed standing but looked very worried, though to most it looked like his usual 'furious' face.

"Those better not be his last words, DiNozzo."

Tony had to swallow the lump in his throat, keep himself from crying. What if they were? The doors opened on the ground floor where the paramedics waited with a gurney. Everything happened very quickly from that point. McGee was loaded into an ambulance and Tony followed suit after Gibbs insisted that he knew more about the situation since he was at the scene first. Gibbs failed to mention that he knew DiNozzo was involved with McGee's current state but Tony knew he would bring it up again later. Tony could barely remember the ride to the hospital, giving answers on Tim's original condition and then waiting in the waiting room for the doctors to inform him if his co-worker would be alright. After all the panic and worry he drifted off to sleep.

Hours later Tony was woken up by a nurse who told him that Timothy McGee was finally stable and he could go and see him if he wanted but to not try and wake him up yet, he had to do that in his own time. Tony swallowed hard before walking into the hospital room. He hadn't quite trusted himself not to cry yet. McGeek was laid on a hospital bed with a few tubes running into his arms. The colour was back in his cheeks, though he still wasn't quite the bright red he normally was when Tony was insulting him. Tony sat down on the chair next to his bed with a sigh. Tears filled up in his eyes but he refused to cry.

"Hey, Probie. I am… so… so sorry for this! I swear I didn't mean for this to happen. I thought I'd just… I don't know scare you a little. After you wake up, after all this is over, you can insult me, annoy me, slap me over the head all you like."

He lifted his head to look at his fallen team-mate when he heard a rasping breath from the bed.

"…promise…?"

Tony couldn't help it. A wide grin spread across his face. McGee slowly opened his eyes and tilted his head painfully towards Tony. Tony nodded, a stray tear creeping it's way down his cheek.

"Promise."

A weak, half smile made it's way onto McGee's face. Tony held back on the urge to hug Probie and instead rested a hand on McGee's shoulder. He pressed his head into the back of that hand and hid a few telltale tears that fell on to the bed sheets.

"I really, truly am sorry…"

A hand gently touched the side of his face and Tony looked up. The movement of his arm had McGee's face slightly twisted in pain but faintly smiling as best it could.

"…I forgive…you…"

McGee closed his eyes, his hand gently came to rest on the sheets and a light steady breathing followed. Tony stared wide eyed and shocked for a few moments at his sleeping friend. He forgave him! Tony vowed that he would never again bully and torment Probie… at least not without being nice and making him feel appreciated as well. Gibbs might not be so forgiving when he found out but right now that didn't matter. All that mattered was that his best friend was alive.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Three weeks later all was more or less back to normal in NCIS. Gibbs was back to shouting orders at them, Ziva was back to occasionally threatening Tony with the knives she sharpened under her desk, Abby was almost letting Tony back in her lab (he still had to stand outside whenever he wanted something) and Tony was back to calling McGeek a variety of names and bullying him in a variety of creative ways. Tony had of course been suspended from work for two weeks. It would have been more but McGee insisted that it wasn't Tony's fault and that it had been for a bet… or something along those lines. Gibbs wasn't buying it but he couldn't prove otherwise and in all honesty just wanted his team getting along again. This particular afternoon Tony was laying back on his chair with his feet on the desk… again. Gibbs walked into the Bullpen to collect the most recent reports and glared at Tony's napping form.

"DiNozzo…!"

Tony sat bolt upright, expecting a slap on the head when he heard another voice a little closer.

"It's okay Boss, I got it."

And there it was, a slap to the head, though a little weaker than Gibbs. Tony frowned and mock glared at McGee who was smiling to himself. Gibbs grinned and carried on walking.

"Good job, McGee. I suggest we all pack up and go home before we all end up like DiNozzo."

Tony stood in the lift next to McGee and patiently waited for the doors to close. He turned quickly as soon as nobody could see them and embraced Tim in a tight hug.

"I want you to know, every cruel or hurtful thing I might have said or done today… I don't mean a word of it."

McGee looked a little shocked at this sudden display of affection.

"Tony, you've told me that every day since I've gotten back."

Tony shrugged, still hugging.

"I know, just… don't forget it, Probie."

Tim smiled and returned his friends hug. He could get used to this.


End file.
